Hi guys, my sitter arrived on Friday last week and I left the country on Monday. All has been fine except the house wifi of course started playing up as soon as I left the house. I’ve spent hours trying to get through to the provider for them to send someone round to fix it. Finally they called me this morning at 5am my time, 4 hour time difference, saying they’ll send a technician at 3pm today. Great.
Except I woke up to a message from the sitter saying that she was moving out and into a hotel, I needed to find someone new straight away, her sleep has been affected by the dog barking (he is barky but doesn’t usually bark through the night but having a stranger in the house will obviously be an adjustment) and her business is being affected due to the internet issues.
Obviously I don’t want her to stay there when she’s clearly very unhappy so I’ve managed to make alternative arrangements but to say I’m stressed since I left would be an understatement.
Does anyone have any experience with this or know what the next steps are? I also can’t get through to support from the website. Thanks, Emma
@eco1988 it sounds like it has been a stressful situation for both of you .
I am happy to hear that you have been able to make alternative arrangements.
You can use live chat ( in the Help section ) to speak to member services . At first you are connected to a chatbot - ask to speak to a human and you will be connected to someone to speak to.
If you wait another hour it will be 9am in U.K. and usually you can get connected to a real person at that time.
You can advise them of the situation and they will change the end dates on the platform so that you both can write you review.
If you are Premium member MS can talk you through whether this situation qualifies for the the sit guarantee and if so next steps to claim back the additional costs of kennels etc.
Please let us know how you get on as it will be useful information for future members who encounter a similar situation.
When you say next steps, what do you mean? Only that you’ve agreed to her leaving and found cover so that’s a done deal. You could probably advertise the sit again from today until you return (if it’s a long one and that’s a better option). Membership will help with that and should be online shortly I would think. You’ll also both need to review each other even for a curtailed sit. Hope things work out when you speak to HQ @eco1988
I don’t really know what I mean by next steps honestly. I’m really just wondering if anyone has had experience being let down in the middle of a sit before… I’ve had 2 amazing sitters before so never expected someone to bail a week before I’m due back, it’s so disappointing. I’m really clear about all pets in the profile and was there 3 nights before handover to make sur everything was clear for her. I’m just super frustrated and venting now
I’ll wait another while and try get contact HQ again, insurance should cover the boarding but still.
Hmmnnnn. Yes I get it. Must be very stressful for sure. We’ve never bailed on a sit even when tricky, that said there are two of us and only one works. Sending best wishes for some help
In your shoes, I’d get a friend or family member to cover, because I wouldn’t want to be on vacation trying to screen THS sitters. If you’re going the route of screening, I’d suggest figuring out your internet ASAP, because many sitters won’t want to walk into bad internet or no internet, especially telecommuters. You could’ve (and still can) just offered to pay for a hotspot in a pinch in many locations, unless your home is in the boonies or such, if internet was the key issue. That wouldn’t fix dog issues, of course.
Personally, I skip any listings without high-speed internet. And if a host misrepresents their internet (not saying that’s the case here) and it hurts my ability to telecommute, I’d leave, because I go in declaring that I telecommute and need high speeds.
Leaving mid sit is against the terms and conditions, don’t think a barking dog would be a valid reason to leave. Did she specifically say she needed reliable internet? You say someone is coming out this afternoon to fix it. She doesn’t sound very reliable, is she experienced?
A barking dog is definitely not valid and I’m really clear about his sensitivities in the profile. No, all she said in her initial application is that she has a flexible work from home schedule. My internet is usually really reliable and I’ve got someone coming in an hour to fix but she doesn’t want to wait. I’ve spent hours on the phone to the provider over the past few days trying to get them to send a technician out.
I managed to get through to Therese at THS who’s been really helpful thankfully. I use this website to avoid boarding them which is what I’ve had to resort to last minute unfortunately so there will be no end of problems for me to sort out when I get back which makes having a holiday really difficult!
If you’ve spent days trying to get a tech out, that means the internet hasn’t been working well or at all for days. If someone telecommutes, it doesn’t matter how flexible their schedule, they’d still need reliable internet.
Tech issues can crop up beyond a homeowner’s control, in which case again, getting a hotspot is a possibility in theory.
Personally, as a telecommuter who sits, I’m always prepared to get a hotspot if needed. If I were a host, I’d rather offer to get one than lose a sitter mid-sit.
It is high-speed it’s 250mbps! And it was working perfectly well before I left on Monday, she’d be using it with no issue. I was traveling all day Monday so couldn’t do anything about it and literally spent 3 full days trying to get someone to come to the house but they prefer to troubleshoot on the phone first before sending someone round so it’s not as simple as me calling and them sending someone straight away unfortunately.
I managed to get them into a last minute boarding facility, which I would have preferred to avoid, which is why I use this site but with no other option, it will have to do. The cats will be fed by friend thankfully.
Honestly I don’t think the animals themselves are an issue, I’ve really successful sits in the past, I think she was just at her wits end with the internet and is refusing to wait even another hour, which is when the technician will be there!
Regardless, it’s sorted now, it just almost gave me a heart attack to wake up to that message!
Thanks for all your replies, really appreciate them.
Had you told the sitter that he was barky? Was it in the listing?
I have had a sit where the dog woke me on many nights. Not that he barked “through the night”, it was just briefly, probably triggered by some animal in the garden or things like that. But sometimes twice or three times in the same night.
It took me several days to get used to that. After a week or so I could usually easily fall asleep again. Also, I could just take an afternoon nap when I felt for that. But if I had needed to work I would have been more annoyed, and then feeling annoyed (at the dog or at the HO) would have made it difficult to fall asleep.
My guess is that you are used to your dog barking in the night. It maybe does not even wake you up.
Yup, internet providers don’t care if it’s urgent for you. They have their processes, which are a pain even when you’re at home using your own internet and encounter problems, unfortunately. That’s why — if I were on a trip — I’d get a hotspot and avoid trying to troubleshoot beyond basics. That would be a quicker fix. Even when techs come, they sometimes can’t quickly fix an issue, so if someone who telecommutes has had internet issues for days already, they might have to get to a reliable signal. If their company or customers are waiting on them, that can be damaging to their livelihood.
I also doubt that your dog’s barking was the key problem. But I could see someone stressed because they can’t work and then a bunch of barking being the last straw.
It sucks that your internet went out, but life happens. Glad your pets are being taken care of, even if it’s not ideal.
About what @pietkuip mentioned: It’s true that barking and other pet quirks or issues can be less noticeable over time, because we live with them. My dog is a nutty barker, for instance. I joke that on top of him barking at delivery people, deer and other wildlife, he sees dead people and barks at them, too.
I’ve just had the technician in and he says everything is working fine so clearly the internet wasn’t an issue. My friend is round there now and apparently there are lots of little bugs in the cat food which has never happened before. I’m actually in a bit of shock to be honest
@eco1988 welcome to the forum, although it’s under bad circumstances.
We are telecommuters and we always come prepared with an alternative wifi source for exactly this reason. Things can happen and we need to be prepared, we would never rely on the host’s wifi alone.
As for the barking- this is a tough one. We don’t know the exact circumstances.
I just want to reiterate: good sitters will never just leave a sit without at least trying to negotiate alternative care for the pets. That is definitely not on.
Yes, it’s very, very clear in his profile and she was there 3 days before I left. He definitely doesn’t bark through the night but he’s obviously out of sorts because I’m away so any little noise would probably set him off more than usual. I wake up easily and if a dog barks outside that will wake me up so I know he’s not a habitual night-time barker! Regardless though, I was very clear about him before she even applied. The fact that there were bugs in the cat food is very concerning and the fact that the technician has said everything is working fine is also very frustrating. She refused to wait for the technician, despite initially saying that she would so my friend had to speak to him and video-called me while he was there.
Anyway, they’re sadly in a boarding facility now for a week. Thanks for your reply.
I feel really bad doing that then in case she gets in trouble!! But I don’t think she’ll think twice about leaving a bad review for me although I’ve really done absolutely everything in my power to make it a positive, pleasant stay.
I’ve got Therese who’s been really helpful and she’s going to investigate the situation. She has another sit coming up on the 29th but it’s just 1 dog so hopefully that will go better for her.
live chat ( in the Help section ) to speak to member services . At first you are connected to a chatbot - ask to speak to a human and you will be connected to someone to speak to.
